Last fall, several licensed child-care facilities in Calgary faced a devastating E. coli outbreak, the largest in the province’s history. In response, Alberta’s government established the Food Safety and Licensed Facility-Based Child Care Review Panel (review) to conduct a thorough review of the circumstances surrounding the event and recommend ways to prevent this from happening again.
The panel's seven-month review resulted in a final report that includes 12 primary recommendations and 27 sub-recommendations. The recommendations centre around three main themes:
- fostering a culture of food safety that supports high-quality, safe and healthy learning environments for children
- public policy, legislation and inspection systems for food safety
- system alignment and integration
The review panel believes these recommendations are instrumental for developing a food safety system that is trustworthy, accountable and centred around families and their children.
“Last year’s E. coli outbreak had a devastating impact on families, and we are committed to making sure an event like that never happens in our province again. The review panel we set in place has done important work to review the overall outbreak situation to provide recommendations to prevent a similar outbreak from happening. It’s our government’s intention to act on every recommendation we can to protect children’s safety and to restore trust in the system.”
Alberta’s government has accepted the panel’s report and will begin working to address recommendations, including establishing clear expectations and a framework for how public health inspections are done. For example, work is already underway to increase the frequency of inspections at child-care facilities/food distribution facilities and to improve response times in child-care facilities where food safety concerns have been raised.
“By leveraging the review panel’s expertise and collaborating with affected families and stakeholders, we have started laying the groundwork for new food safety standards in licensed child-care facilities. This work will help restore public confidence in Alberta's child-care system and provide parents with the reassurance that their children are in safe hands.”
Planning is also underway to address recommendations requiring all licensed child-care providers to prominently post their most recent public health inspection reports for parents to review. This will help make sure parents understand how to report concerns about food safety at their child-care facility.
“Every day, Alberta parents place their trust in child-care providers. Through the recommendations in this report, we can begin to rebuild the trust that was lost due to the devastating impacts of the E. coli outbreak. We are committed to establishing a food-safety culture, focused on ensuring the safety and well-being of children, so parents can go to school or work knowing their children are safe and thriving.”
While there are recommendations that can be implemented right away, others will be phased in over time, including potential changes to legislation. Additionally, some recommendations will require further analysis and more engagement with families, child-care facilities, licensed food establishments and the food services industry. Alberta’s government is analyzing the remaining recommendations made by the review panel.
“I sincerely thank the review panel members for their commitment to completing this report. Their diverse backgrounds ensured a comprehensive review, leading to meaningful recommendations. I also extend my profound gratitude to everyone who contributed to the report. I am confident these recommendations reflect the lessons learned and provide a path forward for improved food safety.”
Outbreak Investigation Report
During the E. Coli outbreak, Alberta Health Services began an investigation aimed at informing immediate control measures, preventing additional cases and determining the source of the outbreak. Once the outbreak ended, AHS continued with the investigation into the source.
After several months of data collection and engagement with affected parents, daycare operators and central kitchen staff, one meal originating from the central kitchen came out with extremely high odds as being the source of inspection. The beef meatloaf served at lunch on Aug. 29, 2023, was the probable food item containing the E. coli for people who ate food from the regular menu.
For those who ate from the special menu (dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan), the probable contamination source was also most likely served during lunch on Aug. 29, but the exact source could not be determined due to the absence of leftover food samples for testing.
“Nothing is more important than the protection of public health and safety, particularly for our youngest and most vulnerable Albertans. We appreciate the work of the panel and our dedicated AHS teams in identifying significant opportunities for improvement while pursuing safety every day.”
The findings in AHS’ Outbreak Investigation Report have been reviewed by Alberta Health and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
Quick facts
- On Sept. 4, 2023, Alberta Health Services (AHS) declared an outbreak of Shiga toxin producing E. coli O157:H7 (STEC) in 11 licensed facility-based child-care facilities in Calgary linked to a shared kitchen.
- On Oct. 24, 2023, AHS declared the outbreak over. The outbreak lasted a total of 51 days and affected a total of 17 licensed child-care facilities, including the original 11 sites and an additional six secondary sites.
- In October 2023, Alberta’s government appointed members to the Food Safety and Licensed Facility-Based Child Care Review Panel in response to this outbreak.
- The review panel, which included members with knowledge of licensed facility-based child care, foodservice establishments and best practices in public health and food safety, officially began its work on Nov. 2, 2023.
- The panel was tasked with reviewing food safety in licensed child-care facilities and the kitchens that serve them. This included a review of the Public Health Act, Food Regulation, Institutions Regulation, Early Learning and Child Care Act and Regulation, and applicable standards, guidelines and procedures.
- To support this work, the review panel also held a series of engagement sessions to gather input from affected parents and families, affected child-care providers, subject matter experts, organizations and associations, and the public.
- The review panel members included:
- Rick Hanson, former chief of police, Calgary Police Services
- Dr. James Kellner, pediatrician and infectious diseases specialist, Alberta Children’s Hospital, and professor, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
- Dr. Lynn McMullen, professor emerita (retired), Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Science, University of Alberta
- Leslie Echino, owner and operator, Annabelle’s Kitchen and Bar
- Tyler Shapka, owner, Hopscotch Child Care Ltd.
- Shannon Doram, president and CEO, YMCA Calgary, Association Services
Related information
- Learning About E. Coli Infections
- Food Safety and Licensed Facility-Based Child Care Review Panel
- Alberta Health Services Outbreak Investigation Report
Related news
- Update on E.coli outbreak review panel (Nov. 27, 2023)
- Government Launches panel to respond to E.coli Outbreak (Sept. 27, 2023)